Welcome back!
I hope you enjoyed the last discussion on direct modulation. If you haven’t seen it you can check it out here.
Today we’re going to be taking a look at technique used by composers and songwriters from Beethoven to The Beatles: common chord modulation.
Common chord modulation is, in a word, subtle. This is a glaring contrast to the abrupt- (and sometimes cheesy-) sounding direct modulation that we explored in part 1. (No offense, direct modulation. Barry Manilow will always love you.)
To give an analogy…
Direct modulation is like jumping from the home key to the destination key.
Common chord modulation is like stepping one foot into the destination key before the other.
Common chord modulation is a great method of moving from one key to another, without drawing much attention. Unlike direct modulation, it can often go unnoticed by the untrained ear. This allows the composer to make drastic changes through subtle nuance.
There are two types of common chord modulation:
- Diatonic Common Chord Modulation
- Altered Common Chord Modulation
These terms can sound pretty intimidating in you’re unfamiliar. Unfortunately, when dealing with music theory many terms sound more scientific than musical. On the bright side, I can help you to make sense of them and show you how to apply these concepts to your own compositions.
Let’s take a look at each one in turn.
DIATONIC COMMON CHORD MODULATION
Key changes can be made to sound very fluid by using a common chord. That is, a chord that is shared by the home and destination keys. This chord acts as a pivot, which links the two keys and allows for a smooth transition between them.
Let’s say we want to use diatonic common chord modulation to move from C major to G major.
The first step is identifying the diatonic chords in each key.
Here is the harmonized C major scale:
Here is the harmonized G major scale:
Notice that these two keys have a few chords in common. The chords that appear in both C major and G major (C, G, Am, Em) are called “common chords”—creative name, eh?
Now that we have identified the common chords in these two keys, we will choose the chord(s) on which to pivot. This is going to be our point of transition into the new key.
To be clear:
Common chords are merely the chords that two keys have in common.
Pivot chords are the chords that we’ve actually chosen to use in our modulation.
Here’s an example of a pivot chord modulation from C major to G major.
Notice there are two pivot chords here: Em and Am. Because C major and G major are closely related keys (and thus, have several chords in common), we are at liberty to use more than one. As a result, the modulation is seamless.
Now that we’ve laid the foundation, let’s see how the pros do it.
THE BEATLES – “HERE, THERE, AND EVERYWHERE”
If I didn’t know any better, I’d think the title, “Here, There, Everywhere,” was alluding to the tonal center of this song. This late-Beatles classic is rife with key changes. Some of the modulations are so fluid that it’s hard to determine the tonality without transcription and analysis. (That’s where I come in.)
Let’s take a look at just one (okay, maybe two) of the modulations present in this song.
The song begins in G major. The tonal center is confirmed with a I – ii7 – iii – IV progression beginning at 0:11.
http://youtu.be/Vd9HrO1b7pk
After a single repetition of the diatonic progression, the tonality becomes a bit ambiguous. While F#ø7 functions as vii of G, the B7 seems a bit out of place. Bm is iii in the key of G, but B7?
By looking ahead to the next measure, we can see that the F#ø7 and B7 function as iiø7 and V7 in E minor, respectively.
Now let’s connect the whole thing.
After connecting the previous excerpts, you can see that the pivot actually began on C and extended through F#ø7, providing a smooth transition from G major to the relative key o E minor.
And the modulations don’t end there!
Have a look at the harmonic outline below.
The tonality immediately begins to shift back in the direction of the home key. The final Em, as seen in the previous example, is used as a diatonic pivot chord (iv in G major), leading to a cadence that confirms the home key once again.
You may notice that A7 does not fit into either E minor or G major. We’ll talk about that in the next section.
Here is what it looks and sounds like once the preceding excerpts are connected:
Diatonic common chord modulation is an extremely useful tool. It works very well to create a smooth transition between closely related keys and it can be accomplished in a single step.
On the downside, it leaves something to be desired when modulating to a distantly related key. This is where altered common chord modulation becomes quite helpful.
ALTERED COMMON CHORD MODULATION
If you’ve decided to modulate to a distantly related key, but don’t want the abrupt sound of direct modulation, altered common chord modulation is a great solution.
Let’s say we wanted to modulate from the key of C major to the key of F minor.
Here is the harmonized C major scale:
Here is the harmonized F minor scale:
Here is the harmonized F minor scale:
Notice that these two distantly related keys don’t have a single chord in common. Therefore, diatonic pivot chord modulation would be impossible. By taking a chord whose root is common between the keys (i.e. C, F, G) and altering it, however, we can shape it to fit into the new key and use the resulting chord as a pivot.
Let’s use F as the root of our pivot chord.
Take the IV chord in C major (F), and alter it by lowering the 3rd. This would turn the F major chord into an F minor chord.
Here’s the technique in the context of a chord progression:
Here’s the technique in the context of a chord progression:
You can see that the common chord is not actually shared by both keys. This is why we call it an altered common chord. Taken literally, it’s more like common root modulation.
You may also notice that the penultimate chord, C7, isn’t diatonic to F minor. As a general rule, the minor v chord can be freely changed into a major V (or V7) chord in a minor key.
For example, this is perfectly acceptable:
Adding a 7th to the V creates an even stronger “pull” to the tonic chord than it would otherwise. This is a useful tool to have in your kit.
While we’re on the topic of altering the minor v chord into a V7, here’s another possibility for altered common chord modulation.
Let’s stay with our current home and destination keys: C major and F minor, respectively.
Since you can substitute a v for a V7 in minor, try altering the C (I in C major) by adding a seventh to the chord. This would make it a C7 chord, which happens to be V7 of F minor, our destination key.
Note: V7 of a different key (written as V7/x) is also known as a secondary dominant chord—a type of altered common chord.
Here’s what this would look like in the context of a chord progression:
While C7 is an altered chord in the key of C major, it also functions as V7 in the destination key of F minor. Because we are using an altered chord to pivot into a new key, we call this altered common chord modulation.
If you are interested in reading more about traditional harmony and the different minor scales (there are actually three of them) check out our article on diatonic harmony.
Let’s see how the master does it.
BEETHOVEN – PIANO SONATA IN G MAJOR, Op. 14, No. 2, Mvmt. I
Beethoven’s Piano Sonata in G provides a great example of altered common chord modulation in the form of a secondary dominant. Our excerpt begins at 0:25 of this video.
Beethoven confirms the key of G major from the outset and begins a broken chord accompaniment at measure 8. (See below.)
Beethoven stays in the home key of G major, alternating between I – V chords until measure 14, where Am appears. Although Am functions as the ii chord of G major, A7 has no function in the home key.
So…what happened?
Beethoven chromatically altered the Am by raising the 3rd and adding a 7th, thus creating an altered common chord, upon which he was able to pivot.
By using a secondary dominant (i.e. V7/x) you can smooth over the transition from your home key to any destination key. In addition, there’s no need to confirm the new key via cadence because the secondary dominant leading to the new tonic is the cadence!
As you can see in this example, altered common chord modulation is not limited to distantly related keys. Although this technique certainly works as a transition between closely related keys, it is often unnecessary due to the readily available common chords.
FINAL THOUGHTS
This article presented an overview of the two variations of common chord modulation, as well as explanations and examples of the technique. I hope to have provided enough knowledge to get you started using common chord modulation in your own compositions.
Before we go, I’d like to leave you with a few guidelines to planning and executing common chord modulations.
How to plan diatonic common chord modulation:
- Choose a home key and write out the harmonized scale.
- Choose a destination key (no more than three keys away on the circle of fifths) and write out the harmonized scale.
- Determine which chords are shared by the home and destination keys.
- Choose one (or two) of these common chords to use as your pivot into the destination key.
How to plan altered common chord modulation:
- Choose a home key and write out the harmonized scale.
- Choose a destination key and write out the harmonized scale.
- Determine a chord in the home key that shares a root with a chord in the destination key (ex. F major in the home key, F minor in the destination key).
- Alter the chord in the home key so that it fits into the destination key.
- Use this chord as your entrance into the destination key.
How to apply (diatonic or altered) common chord modulation:
- Establish a tonal center (home key) through a progression, cadence, or static harmony.
- When you are ready to modulate, use your diatonic/altered common chord to pivot into destination key.
- Confirm the new key with a cadence.
If you have any questions, leave a comment in the box below and I’ll get it answered for you.
Best of luck in your compositions!
Super helpful – thank you!
Thanks for the great article. I know you said minor keys are tricky and I’m struggling with moving from f minor to g minor. Any help would be appreciated.
Great article. I second the question above about how to get back to the home key. There are lots of posts showing small sections of modulation, but it would great to have the bigger picture of how these modulations fit into a whole piece. A future article perhaps?
That’s for the great lesson, as I’m doing my mazmazika chord analyzer tool, I really see that your way of explaining thing is very helpful even for new comers for music field
After modulation in a musical mone mentioned, how do you return to the home key?
Usually by reaching the V or V7 chord of the original key in someway, that allows you to have the leading tone back to the original tonic, as well as having the V-I relationship.
This is a quality post, and really helped me to understand diatonic and altered common chord modulation. Thanks Beau, Jon, et al.
I stumbled into this site, and I find it excellent !
Is there any of your presentations that dwell into the other types of modulation (other than common chord ) and specially using diminished harmony?
thanks for providing this great content!
Iggy
Not at the moment. I’ll add it to the list of potential articles.
this article is amazing 🙂 Thank you
As usual
Stumbled upon this article while searching for help with a temporary modulation during the final chords of a composition (for dramatic affect). Though it doesn’t cover my specific need, it is explained so clearly that I *had* to leave a complimentary comment 🙂 Furthermore, I’ll be coming back here for help for other musical challenges I am sure to encounter!
Thanks much for the very fine explanation! 🙂
Thanks.
Hi. I am Dany.
Thanks a lot for the article. It is so good and clear.
I would like ask you this .
I need to modulate Smoothly
from Cmajor to C#major
And
From Ebmajor to Cmajor
Could you help me?
Thanks
Just playing around with things,
For C to C#, I like: C – F/C – C – Bb7 – Eb – D#m – C#/G# – G#7 – C#
For Eb to C, I would use Dø – G7 – C. Dø is viiø in Eb, but it makes a nice pre-dominant chord in a cadence. It’s part of a minor iiø-V7-i progression, but you can just change the minor i for a major I.
I used to be suggested this blog via my cousin. I’m now
not sure whether this submit is written by him as nobody else
understand such specific about my problem. You’re amazing!
Thanks!
What is it called when you modulate a song without changing the key signature?
Tonicization.
I’m trying to compose a song and am a dummy who never took music theory or learned about chords…so like a dummy, I composed a piece anyway with some parts that need to be fixed and some parts managed to make them sound good “accidently” – meaning I don’t know what the heck I did or how I made certain parts sound good. Therefore, I’m trying to identify if I have modulations in my song (I suspect G major and E minor keys but I don’t know for sure). So I’m curious as to what the related keys are for a song that has one sharp as an attempt to try to figure this all out. Here’s a link to a draft of the song so far… ha! Hope you don’t go deaf after hearing this, but if you have time to kill and feel like it, any input on what you think the key would be or any changes in the key for the first 7 verses or so (labeled verses A to G) Thanks : )
https://musescore.com/user/29175376/scores/5153945
A closely related key has one accidental difference.
G major (1 sharp) has the closely related keys of:
E minor (1 sharp).
D major/B minor (2 sharps)
C major/A minor (no sharps).
If you look at the circle of fifths, closely related keys are right next to each other.
Hello, I have a question. In the Beatles example, can the A7 chord be interpreted as the predominant seventh chord of E melodic minor in this context?
I think it’s probably best to view it as the V7/V in G major.
Nice explanation thanks! I think the most common pivot chord by far is the use of the secondary dominant VII. Worship bands can’t be troubled to look for a common pivot chord and arrange around that transition, instead they just bang into the D7 when slipping from E to G. It’s pretty lazy… and certainly no way to run a railroad!
Love your 3 articles on Modulation. The best 3 articles I have ever read on Modulation
Your organization and breakdown of the topic is super fantastic.
Thanks.
I just love this article! a question when you say “As a general rule, the minor v chord can be freely changed into a major V (or V7) chord in a minor key” what about borrowed chords to be used? so, for example, I can also use I chord like c major chord in c minor key because it is borrowed from a parallel key. right?
In general, yes you can exchange any of the chords from the minor or major scale. This is called modal borrowing. For instance, it is common in the Baroque era to change the final chord in a minor piece to the parallel major. This is called a picardy third.
The major V chord in a minor scale is more critical, as it gives you the leading tone, which makes the tonality major-minor instead of sounding modal. My recommendation is to just experiment by writing progressions with modal borrowing.
Congratulations for your tutorial! Very well done. I wish I could find some tutorials in minor mode, most of the web tutorial deals with major chords modulations. Best regards
Thanks
Hey! Nice article! Really helpful!
I’d love it if there were more examples with minor keys and chords. I like very much misplacing chords and making modulations sound not so subtle. For example, when i read the part where you were talking about modulation from C to Fm it just occurred to me that it sounded great if done like this: G C Am Dm Db Cm Fm. I like the chromatic movement and the sound of a misplaced chord because for a while you’re not sure whats going on. But in this case the chord that is out of place is a major one. And if you’re ok with modulating like this, as opposed to the more classical and clean approaches, you’ll find that a major chord can sound ok (tho unexpected) almost anywhere! And I wish I could do this kind of things with minor chords (which usually sound awful when out of place – except if you just change from a major to a minor with the same root). Could you give me some good example of modulations from minor keys to minor keys, using minor chords for modulation, chord misplacement or that kind of unexpected tricks?
I know this is getting long already, but I’d like to pose a second question that may be too big of a subject for you to cover with a simple reply. Anyway, here it goes:
Having said that i like unsubtle key changes, chords that sound out of place and tonal ambiguity and using some augmented chords, I may add, it’s not surprising that I end up having trouble making good melodies! Instead of using harmonic tricks to underline section changes, for example, I like to use them as a constant element of my progressions. And not having a stable key prevents me from coming up with “catchy” melodies. Could you give me any advise on building solid melodies on top of weird or uncommon harmonic progressions (other that dropping my abuse of “wrong chords”)?
(If this is too much of a topic you not answer OR maybe write an article about it! 😀 )
Tomas, you are free to modulate however you like. I think the modulation you describe above works well enough, but it will have a distinct modal sound, especially with the Cm moving to Fm. Without a major dominant chord, you lose the leading tone, and hence the major-minor sound. Sometimes, less subtle modulation is whats called for. Other times, more subtle. Its all about context.
As far as creating solid melodies over augmented or other modified chords, I would say make sure you still treat the melodic notes as if they are going to resolve. For instance, in C major, if you were to have an IV+ (Augmented IV chord) leading to a ii chord. You would want the C# to resolve to the D melodically. That would make the melody still sound smooth. In general, look for half-step resolutions between the chords.
You can also stick to the other normal chord tones, write a simple chord tone melody, and then fill in the gaps.
Good advise!
I hope I don’t start making melodies that are too monotone now while sticking to half-steps to resolve tho!
I must say that in two days i read and experimented with everything written on this site about melody and harmony! It’s really nice for someone who studied music already but does’t have these things fresh in their memory anymore.
Thanks!
I’m glad it’s helping.
Awesome article. I just have one doubt. On the altered common chord modulation isn’t C major modulating to Fm Harmonic, thus explaining the C7?
Yes, but the point is that you are using an altered shared chord. C7 is not a chord in the C major scale, as there is no Bb in C major.
Hello i’m so so proud and happy about this tutorial. thank you and God bless u.
Anyway im from Ghana(Central region) and would like you to help me setup a group by which you will be teaching us and helping us compose more songs…..Enock Ghana lets chat on phone as well +233541660684
Great articles! Thank you.
Thanks for finally talking about >The Art of Modulation, Part 2: Common Chord Modulation <Loved it!
Hi Beau,
Thanks for your Modulation tutorial. My theory is limited in modulation so your article is most helpful, thanks.
There is alot to absorb and will take some time for me to really understand it.
I would appreciate including me in the course you are currently producing that cover all of the concepts of modulation, should be great.
Thanks again,
Kind regards,
Brian
Sometimes a melody just pops up in my head, but I have great trouble adding the harmony. You who seems to be working with transcription – how about writing something about harmonization, especially pop music where one often sees fewer chords (several notes harmonized with one chord).
This comment has no direct connection to modulation, so I put it here mainly because of your selection of musical examples…
-Ronny
Ronny,
You may not realize it, but when a melody just “pops up in your head,” there is already a built-in underlying harmony. Without the context of the harmonic progression, the melody wouldn’t make much sense at all. Even if you can’t decipher the harmony, you should be able to play around at the piano and figure out which bass note goes along with each part of the melody. Once you have a melody (high register), plus a bass line (low register), it’s just a matter of filling in the middle register. Actually, a “harmony” is simply two or more notes played together. So a melody and bass line together form the underlying harmonic structure. Once you have these two elements, you already have the essential building blocks for the chord progression. Obviously, this is easier said than done.
To give you some practical application, find a transcription of any song you’d like. You mentioned pop songs–that will work. Don’t worry about the chords. Focus on the melody and the bass line. Play the melody on the piano and notice that you can hear something that’s not yet there–the bass line. (Yes, you can hear it in your head because you’ve heard the song before, but this is how composition works–ideally, you want to hear it in your head first.) This is how to get started with composing a complete harmony: melody + bass line.
Finally, notice how they filled in the middle register to create the “voicing”. The harmony has already been implied through the melody and bass line. Chord substitutions and inversions are simply a matter of taste and adding sophistication and/or variety to pre-existing harmonies.
If you want to get a more in-depth look at the connection between melody and harmony, I’d suggest checking out Jon’s course, Music Composition 101. I’ve studied this stuff for years and I still found some eye-openers in his material.
Best of luck,
Beau
Beau, Are you still working on material that will be made available soon? II enjoyed your modulation articles. Thanks!
Bless you for publishing these articles on modulation. This is typically where I get stuck when composing. (I’ve forgotten so much of this part of the theory.) Can hardly wait to start experimenting!
= )
You’re welcome, Karen. Modulation is a common place for budding composers to get stuck. I’m glad you’re finding the articles to be of help.
Thanks a lot Beau, i really loved the tricks especially the altered common chord one 🙂 so if i want to modulate from the key of A minor to B minor then i can use Em or G major as a pivot chord – is this correct?
Thank you for the kind words.
Minor keys are a bit trickier than major keys because of the variable ^6 and ^7. So, to answer your question…
If you are using A natural minor: You can use Em and G as diatonic common chords.
If you are using A harmonic minor: You can use Em and G as altered common chords.
If you are using A melodic minor: Neither Em nor G is present in the home key.
These modes can be combined harmonize minor keys, then pruned so as to only include the most frequently used harmonies: i-iidim-III-iv-V-VI-viidim
In A minor, this would translate to:
Am-Bdim-C-Dm-E-F-G#dim
I know that’s a lot and my explanation may be more confusing than helpful, but rest assured. We are currently producing a course that will cover all of these concepts (and much, much more) in great detail.
-Beau
I’ve been learning to play Clair de Lune by Debussy on the piano. Until I began learning the piece, I never noticed the key change from Db major to C# minor. My piano teacher and I were perplexed by why Debussy would put such a dramatic change until I found this article. Debussy was using altered common chord modulation to transition with a G#m chord and make his piece more interesting!
Also explains why I never noticed the key change when listening to it. Such a smooth transition!
Thanks, Jacob. I had a similar experience when I was learning Clair de Lune. Since Db and C# are enharmonic equivalents, this sounds more like a change of modality (i.e. Db major to Db minor, or C# major to C# minor) than a change in tonality, which is why it goes unnoticed as a modulation. If it were common practice, Debussy could have used the parallel key (Db minor). However, this key is rarely (if ever) seen because the key signature would comprise double-flats, thus overcomplicating things…like I’m doing right now 😉 That said, I would consider this to be more akin to enharmonic modulation than altered common chord modulation.
-Beau
Hi, would you mind telling me what measures this occurs in? I am new to modulation techniques and I would like to see this for myself. Thanks,
Lexi